Summary
Overview
Work history
Education
Skills
Work Adjacent Activities
Accomplishments
Languages
Hobbies
References
Timeline
Generic
Matt Rider

Matt Rider

Bury St Edmunds,Suffolk

Summary

Motivational builder and leader of high-performing, customer-facing technical teams with record of success in late start-up to mid-market enterprise environments. Leads by example, role-modelling desired core values and hands-on, deep customer advocacy. An innate collaborator with proven ability to solve complex problems across internal and external organisations. History maintaining efficiency and high employee satisfaction with responsive management style.

Overview

30
30
years of professional experience

Work history

Vice President, Sales Engineering

Exabeam
London
07.2021 - Current
  • Highly visible, senior leadership role in this Gartner Magic-Quadrant leading UEBA and SIEM vendor
  • Retained 100% of the EMEA SE team since joining against a worldwide SE churn of 40% during the same period, and a 20% RIF
  • Regularly engaged with C-level to close deals including Sky in the UK, Vodafone in the Netherlands, RCJY in the Middle East and UBS/Credit Suisse in Switzerland
  • Achieved 100+% of EMEA target and President’s Club in past three fiscal years.
  • Asked to be interim leader of both EMEA Sales and EMEA Professional Services during my tenure
  • Regular keynote speaker across the region
  • Guided organisational development with structured performance management systems, competency matrices and GROWTH, high-performers programm
  • Received Exabeam Global MVP 2023 for Culture Ambassador
  • Leading member of the ECC (Employee Community Council), promoting diversity and inclusion that resulted in an enhanced company culture
  • Founder for the neurodiversity ERG (Employee Resource Group), growing membership to 10% of the company in one year
  • Presented at SKO last two years running and hosted after-party
  • Speaker at Google Cloud launch in Qatar

Senior Director of Sales Engineering

Rapid7
Reading
07.2016 - 07.2021
  • A highly autonomous role within a hyper-growth organisation, enrolled on the fast-track executive leadership development program
  • Proven success in building, developing, mentoring and leading Rapid7’s EMEA and LATAM Sales Engineering functions from their inception
  • Grew the team from two to 20+, I implemented several key initiatives under the ‘Technical Win’ Program, halving the time to sell, doubling the average sale price, and increasing individual SE efficiency three-fold
  • Empowered individual career development as well as record team achievements.
  • Partnered with global sales and channel leadership to set business priorities, define regional and departmental KPIs, and shape product strategy with the product management team
  • Rapid7’s International Technical Spokesperson, delivering keynotes, technical research and thought leadership
  • Received the highest MEI (Manager Engagement Index) score for any Director in the company for three years running.
  • Revolutionised pre-sales business processes with innovative technology solutions.
  • Built high performing teams across all regions using rigorous recruitment and talent development strategies.

Head of Global Services

Rapid7
Reading
02.2014 - 07.2016
  • Head-hunted as the first ‘techie’ of any type outside of the US to build the Professional Services (software deployment, user training and penetration testing) offering for Rapid7’s new international business
  • Implemented new, region-specific business strategies for increased market penetration, growing the international services business from $40K to $1.2M in two years
  • Build out a team of consultants in EMEA, while personally delivering all EMEA training and deployment in the interim.
  • Developed customer-facing techincal raining programmes as well as internal services sales training and deployment consultant training - elevating customer and employee skill levels.
  • Improved customer satisfaction rates by implementing quality service standards.
  • Estimated resources required for deployment, writing SOWs, BOQs and Project Plans. Negotiated contracts with vendors, securing cost-effective deals for the company.


Professional Services NEMEAI Manager

Sophos
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
05.2011 - 02.2014
  • Led a team of 15 consultants across Europe, focused on maximising customer satisfaction, retention, and growth through the customer lifecycle
  • Managed deployments to mitigate project risk and monitoring project economics
  • Throughout, I was also retained as the Enterprise Strategy Consultant for £13 billion valued WPP – performing onsite services engagements in 20 countries
  • I was the lead on the tender and then onsite program manager for BP’s £1.2M full disk encryption project.

Head of EMEA & APAC Platinum Support

Sophos
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
03.2009 - 05.2011
  • Headhunted by Sophos to devise and build out a new, premium tier of Technical Support
  • I devised, recruited, and lead two brand new teams for Sophos; Technical Account Managers and Dedicated Support Engineers.
  • Created the processes, documentation, knowledge base and tooling to support this new offering
  • Sophos’ largest customers still run on the model I built.

Creative & Production Director

TDD Media Ltd
Oxford, Oxfordshire
05.2007 - 04.2009
  • Responsible for every aspect of running a small TV & Radio production company
  • During my leadership, TDD grew to 12 full-time staff and £770K annual revenue – 250% growth in two years
  • Along with overseeing product development and customer acquisition, I directed multi-camera shoots for national broadcast customers; highly demanding and fast-evolving situations with up to 20 crew and contractors
  • My proudest achievement was the winning and retention of four high-profile customers – only possible through devising, presenting and delivering a full end-to-end customer lifecycle process driven by their business outcomes; unheard of at the time, especially in the non-broadcast space.

Co-Founder and Executive Producer

Magic Bullet
Reading
06.2006 - 05.2007
  • Transitioned from a lead technical role to pursue a creative business opportunity, founding Magic Bullet with a Microsoft colleague
  • Originally a video production company and media consultancy, Magic Bullet continues to this day as an organisation campaigning for Cystic Fibrosis research.
  • Identified market opportunities for business expansion.
  • Drove innovation with the implementation of creative ideas.
  • Initiated partnerships with other businesses to enhance brand visibility.
  • Secured investment opportunities with compelling pitch presentations.
  • Lead video editor on majority of initial projects

Global Technical Account Manager

Microsoft
Reading
06.2000 - 06.2006
  • Responsible for the technical relationship with several of Microsoft's largest European customers, including UBS, Ford, Diageo and Tesco.
  • Ensured my customers received maximum ROI from their technology by creating a bespoke service delivery plan to improve operational stability and performance.
  • Managed company wide major upgrades of Windows, Active Directory, Exchange, SQL Server, SMS, Office and BizTalk Server for improved operations.
  • Managed an onsite team of five Microsoft specialist staff
  • Facilitated effective customer communication to enhance understanding and use of products, delivering formal and adhoc training
  • Delivered product presentations, resulting in increased product awareness.
  • Resolved complex technical issues to ensure smooth operations.
  • Created detailed reports, aiding in strategic decision making.
  • Coordinated cross-functional team efforts for successful, multi-year project completion.

IRT Team Leader

Microsoft
Reading
03.1998 - 06.2000
  • Lead the Premier Support Initial Response Team (IRT); 15 recent graduates responsible for triage of Microsoft's most strategic European customers.
  • Among my accomplishments was the highest retention rates during the team’s history and a fully-realised career pathing program into Technical Support, Technical Account Management, the Solutions Development Centre and Microsoft Consulting Services
  • Reduced staff turnover with an effective motivation strategy.
  • Provided comprehensive onboarding training to reduce learning curve for new hires.
  • Coordinated daily tasks, ensuring smooth workflow within the team.

Education

Professional Qualifications

Diploma in Organisational Learning and Development - Learning and Development

CIPD
UK
09.2024 -

Skills

  • Strategic planning
  • Operational leadership
  • Dynamic public speaking
  • Profit growth strategies
  • International business experience
  • Customer executive relationship building
  • Multidisciplinary team coordination
  • Talent acquisition and retention
  • Leadership development
  • Corporate culture and employee engagement expertise
  • Mergers and acquisitions expertise
  • Pre- to post-sales lifecycle expertise
  • Territory management

Work Adjacent Activities

STEAM Ambassador; leading careers days, presenting to parents, students and teachers and creating content to support other teams and individuals engaging locally with schools and colleges.

Guidepoint consultant for cybersecurity

Campaigner for Neurodiversity in the workplace

Accomplishments

    Exabeam Global MVP 2023 for Culture

    Exabeam Leader of the Year 2022

    Exabeam President's Club Winner 2024, 2023, 2022

Languages

English
Native
German
Beginner

Hobbies

Fell-walking, gin tasting, MINI enthusiast, local amateur historian, avid gamer (original Xbox Alpha tester)

References

References available upon request.

Timeline

Diploma in Organisational Learning and Development - Learning and Development

CIPD
09.2024 -

Vice President, Sales Engineering

Exabeam
07.2021 - Current

Senior Director of Sales Engineering

Rapid7
07.2016 - 07.2021

Head of Global Services

Rapid7
02.2014 - 07.2016

Professional Services NEMEAI Manager

Sophos
05.2011 - 02.2014

Head of EMEA & APAC Platinum Support

Sophos
03.2009 - 05.2011

Creative & Production Director

TDD Media Ltd
05.2007 - 04.2009

Co-Founder and Executive Producer

Magic Bullet
06.2006 - 05.2007

Global Technical Account Manager

Microsoft
06.2000 - 06.2006

IRT Team Leader

Microsoft
03.1998 - 06.2000

Professional Qualifications

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Matt Rider